Maybe…
Totally Overrated
Super Expensive
Full of too many Americans
Hot as hell
But still a lot of fun!
Sounds like I had a bad time in Costa Rica? Not at all, I actually had a lot of fun there. But when comparing to other Latin American countries, I just think that CR is way too Americanized and it is REALLY expensive for what you get for your money. I remember for example, one morning I went to breakfast at this little café and ordered a “typico” breakfast off of the menu which included rice, beans, eggs, platano, and your choice of ham or sausage links. So I had decided to go with the sausage links and for a price of about $4.25US (which is A LOT for breakfast) I figured, hey this is going to be a 5 star breakfast for that price, and you could imagine my surprise when I was served scrambled eggs with a partially cooked hot dog posing as my sausage links. I don’t know what made me feel worse, paying the $200 for a night at the Holiday Inn in back Guate, or actually paying $4.25 for a luke warm "hot dog" breakfast…LOL. Not to mention that you’ll be paying upwards of around $35 per night for a private room in a hostel and much, much, more in a hotel. Compare that to living on the beach in Belize for $15 a night, or $7 a night in Nicaragua, or even $15 a night for my apartment in an amazing area here in Bogota, Colombia, (which is where I am right now) and you’ll see that Costa Rica is just way too pricey for what you get.
I also managed to surf a little in Costa Rica, which felt great since I haven’t been surfing since summer. The waves ended up being about 2-3 feet with some fun little rides. But what I will say for Costa Rica as a surf “destination” is, that from what I saw, it just seemed like an “ok” place to surf rather than what I had imagined it would be. Back in the US Costa Rica is advertised in the surf industry as this totally amazing place to go surfing, and that theirs great waves everywhere; and I’m not buying it. From what I saw, Costa Rica is a warm water surf spot full of fun little beach breaks, which are fun, but hardly worth the money if your planning a surf trip to another country. If you’re going to actually spend money to go on a surf trip abroad, I think you may be a lot better off going to Bali, or Tavarua, or somewhere where you’re going to score epic surf. If you want fun little beach breaks like CR you can just take a week off and save yourself the money and surf Newport everyday, or better yet, pull all day sessions at Trestles for a week and you’ll probably get better waves, that is if you’re willing to sacrifice the warm water aspect of CR.
With that being said, I actually did have a really great time in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is a very beautiful country with really friendly people. There are some areas along the coastal road where there are rows of palm trees stretching as far as the eyes could see, and one of the beaches that I went to was absolutely stunning. I had a little cold while I was there but managed to survive and hit the beach everyday, and even managed to do a little partying the last night I was there with my surf buddy Mark from the hostel. It was his first trip to another country and we were out at some place on Saturday night drinking a little rum when he turned to me and said, “Can you believe this? Were in a bamboo hut in the middle of god knows where, drinking rum, and listening to this music with a bunch people from all over the world! This is so awesome!…To Costa Rica!!!!”
I simply replied, “I do believe it, and I know EXACTLY how you’re feeling…
Cheers!!” :)
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